Read Up!!

Ok, I rarely ever do this. So, let's just say it's the nurse coming out in me.

Btw, before I head off on my little rant, Jeremy is improving. He still feels pretty weak and painful, but is definitely improving. Yesterday as I was talking to his surgeon's nurse and reported that he was improving he began throwing his hands in the air and questioning me and ranting, "I'm dying over here!" lol! So, when he can argue the point, he's definitely improving! If you know Jeremy well at all, arguing any point, whether right or wrong, is his specialty! :-) I love him anyway!! However, he did NOT argue with me when I told her that I thought this was a little more difficult than he had anticipated and that he thought he'd bounce right back! But he is actually out of the bed now, so this is good. On Saturday, he was asking me and his brothers to find someone to decapitate him. Now, I think he's actually glad he kept his head!

Now, that you're updated. I'll continue to the reason for my post......

This is to all of those individuals who hear of a good vitamin or supplement and are eager to run out and try it. Personally, I'm petrified to take supplements. First of all, because I know some have the ability to alter drug screens, and being that those are done randomly at my work, I'm not in any way going to chance that!! I like my job WAY too much for that.

Secondly, I am very aware that just because a vitamin or supplement is on the market, does not mean that it has been approved by the FDA and may be someone's attempt at making another dollar - which is the case of many of the supplements sold on commercials that people spend tons of money on!!

There are always articles on the hazards of some supplements, while some may boost some certain aspects of the body, sometimes, they pull other nutrients from vital areas to do their job, in the end, causing more harm than good........(and yes, that was a very long sentence.)

So, to cut to the chase, this article made headlines today on Yahoo News about supplements........being that I find it to be very applicable, I thought I'd post it. So, HERE's the link, but to bring out the importance of the article, I'll point out the highlights!

This is from the article, "Dangerous Supplements", from Consumer Reports - posted today on Yahoo news....

"We have identified a dozen supplement ingredients that we think consumers should avoid because of health risks, including cardiovascular, liver, and kidney problems. We found products with those ingredients readily available in stores and online. "

"Because of inadequate quality control and inspection, supplements contaminated with heavy metals, pesticides, or prescription drugs have been sold to unsuspecting consumers. And FDA rules covering manufacturing quality don’t apply to the companies that supply herbs, vitamins, and other raw ingredients."

The Dirty Dozen:

"To come up with our dozen finalists, we also considered factors such as whether the ingredients were effective for their purported uses and how readily available they were to consumers. We then shopped for them online and in stores near our Yonkers, N.Y., headquarters and easily found all of them for sale in June 2010.

The dozen are aconite, bitter orange, chaparral, colloidal silver, coltsfoot, comfrey, country mallow, germanium, greater celandine, kava, lobelia, and yohimbe. The FDA has warned about at least eight of them, some as long ago as 1993. "

Now, if what you've read has sparked your interest, make sure you read the link....I have not listed the symptoms and problems that are associated with some of these - including the silver. Namely, the silver turns your skin blue and laser treatments are required to correct it!

So, I NEVER take a supplement until I run it by at least two of my physicians and usually more that I run into in the hospital. That leads me to the point that the only thing I've been approved to take is CoQ10 that I can get off the counter, and I don't take it every day.....However, never in this life, will I EVER buy products that come from any type of commercial, or someone selling "snake oil." That's about what it boils down to.....

I'm not trying to make you paranoid, but then again, I am.....so be careful....at least I warned you!!